


Fauntling's Realm

by cybermanolo



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:48:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23908738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cybermanolo/pseuds/cybermanolo
Summary: A family of two arrives at Fauntling's Realm, a kindergarden under Bilbo Baggin's care.
Relationships: Bilbo Baggins & Fíli & Kíli, Fíli & Kíli & Thorin Oakenshield, eventual Fili/Kili - Relationship
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	1. Once there was a Dinosaur, all he did was roar and roar.

Fauntling's Realm: a name that conjures images of laughing children in an idyllic environment to the mind of hobbits. However, the two blondes figures standing by the round wooden door sported matching dour faces. The small one, a young girl no older than five, was crouching on the steps before the doors looking unaccountably absorbed in a small, battered storybook. The light green backpack and dress-up, plastic purse that swung from her arms chubby with baby fat as she bounced about while reading, were rapping against the ground in nervous circular motions, producing a small dust cloud from the white gravel. The man, hands in his pockets, was fidgeting and peering curiously through the glass of the strangely large round door of the school.

Beyond the glass, one could observe an array of patterned backpacks, scarves, hats, and coats; all child-sized and obediently aligned next to the circular, wooden doors leading to the classrooms, as if it were all a staged image from an idyllic postcard. Further away, partly beyond the young mans’ range of vision a staircase and an elevator next to each other led to the above levels. At the other side of the hallway, a second staircase smaller than the first, let him catch a glimpse of the garden; full of plants and flowers and an impressive vegetable patch, and of the playground. Growing impatient, the blond man rang the doorbell once more. 

A passing teacher finally let the two of them into the entryway, where a short and homely man with curly blond hair was walking towards them. He had the size and large unclothed feet distinctive of hobbit ancestry. In fact, Fíli had rarely seen someone with seemingly so pure hobbit ancestry in his appearance. Him and Trís both sported typically dwarvish traits such as their stout silhouette and large hands. But Fíli believed that Trís would eventually grow up taller than him, since her mother was such a charming mixture of dwarvish and mannish traits. With a warm smile, he presented himself as Bilbo Baggins, the Director of Fauntling’s Realm Kindergarten. He shook hands with the blonde man first, who introduced himself as Fíli Dùrin, and then with the small child at his side, whom Fíli introduced as his daughter, Trís. Bilbo also shook her hand, still smiling and trying to meet her eyes, though she was intently staring at the floor.

After some small talk, mostly from the short director, he insisted that they continue their conversation inside his office where he could serve everyone some tea, coffee, or hot chocolate with some scones, and perhaps some marmalade. Father and daughter shared a moment of complicity as from the looks of it the director had run in late; he still sported bed marks on his cheeks and his bow-tie was crooked. Certainly he was the one in need of a nice cup of coffee, but perhaps he ought to abstain from the marmalade.

As the director led them into his office, a comfy and welcoming place decorated with pastel colors, Fíli glanced at his daughter from the corner of his eyes wondering if she would feel happy here. The brochure was fairly truthful on account of the building; it truly was a welcoming and homey place with its tasteful round doors and windows, all the children’s artworks on the walls, and apparently homemade decorations. Though would she feel at home in this new and alien place? After all advertisements could be so deceiving. 

The director looked friendly enough but Fíli had learned never to judge a book by its cover. Would the teachers at Fauntling's Realm come up to his standards regarding childcare? Would they live up to his daughter's needs? Holding back a sigh Fíli crossed through the wooden round door, comically entitled ‘Fauntling's Headquarters’. It wasn't the time to second-guess himself. 

Trís looked around the place passing over the desk, cupboards and furniture without interest, before her eyes stopped on a cozy little corner with a basket of toys. Her eyes widened as she took in the new and exciting playthings: a baby doll, an octopus plush with its elephant friend, and multiple cars.

She looked up at Fíli questioningly from under her eyelashes, “Go on and sit over there, darling. Papa is going to be boring with Mr. Baggins over here for a bit.”

“Okay Papa,” she said, her steps leading her to the soft colorful carpet covered corner. Perhaps he should have brought her own toys. Tarría had always chastised his lack of preparation, but the truth of the matter was that Fíli was more of a problem solver than an avoider of problems in the first place. It had always worked for him in the past, but nowadays he couldn’t afford to go into a situation half-cocked. Someone depended on him. Some people were counting on him to do the right things and to be responsible.

The little man showed Fíli to a plush seat with leather arms next to a wooden desk, politely opening up with some platitudes while taking place behind his massive oaken desk. But Fíli and Trís were attempting to enroll the young girl into Fauntling’s Realm as a last resort, since all the events of the last year had thrown them all far outside their comfort zone. Ah, but this coffee was excellent, and Trís was dutifully licking her fingers of the last of her father’s scones. If this places’ food could reawaken his daughter’s appetite then their non-choice might have a good chance. 

“So how come Trís is joining us at this time of the year?”, Bilbo asked while taking the last bite of his generously marmalade covered scone. “After all, the school’s programming was about to enter mid-spring on the calendar.” 

Fíli mulled over his answer. How much could he reveal? “Well, I have recently gone through a divorce, and the separation has been… rather hard on Trís. I believe having her stay at home with me was the right thing to do at the time, especially as I was unemployed,” Fíli explained while twirling his fingers in one of his braids. All true. But perhaps avoiding to mention the most sordid details would improve Trís’s status at this nursery-school.

Bilbo bent closer to the small man, almost hovering over his desk, and asked in a more serious tone, “Then why is now a good time for Trís to go to school?”

“I am not unemployed anymore,” answered Fíli, lifting his eyes to meet Bilbo’s serious gaze, “However, I guess I am also not really sure if Trís is ready for such a big change. I mean, even though the two of us have been together since her mom left, Trís has not been the same since the divorce, and I worry about her.”

Bilbo sighed, his forehead scrunching as if under a great burden. The gesture made Fíli even more uncomfortable and he was having more and more trouble refraining from fidgeting nervously. He knew his story wouldn’t stand against thorough interrogation, but it had to work. This last-minute solution would solve most of his current problems. He tried to take some deep calming breaths discreetly. Was it him or was this office really hot?

Hopefully, when the director answered, the look he gave Fíli was frank and direct, “Well, your worries are over now. I can assure you, Mr. Dùrin, that Trís will be in a perfectly safe and welcoming environment,” Bilbo quietly affirmed.

Fíli smiled ever so slightly, but before he let the budding hope take hold, he needed to be sure, “Actually, that’s what I mainly wanted to talk to you about. Can you tell me what kind of school this is...I mean, what kind of support does this establishment provide for the children?”

With a smile, Bilbo answered, “I think those kinds of questions would be better answered by Trís' new caregiver. Would you care to meet them? For my part, I can certainly vouch for this person, our most popular teacher!”

Fíli suddenly stopped worrying his hair, “Oh, that would be perfect! I'd like very much to meet her,” he chuckled, “After all, she might become one of the most important adults in my Trís’ young life!”

Bilbo grinned mischievously, causing the cutest of wrinkles to emerge at the corner of his eyes, containing his apparent amusement with difficulty. Fíli reflected that the director, as he internally chuckled, was the very picture of cunning delight. Judging from the man’s reaction, this would certainly prove to be an interesting meeting.

“Of course. I will go look for my employee then; you are lucky that classes are not in session yet. Perfect timing, I must say!”

“Wonderful,” Fíli sighed with relief, “I wouldn't want to deprive the children of their beloved teacher!”

With one last, crooked smile, Bilbo walked out of the office with a spring in his step, leaving the young parent to his own devices and reflections. Dragging his gaze around the room, Fíli let himself consider his daughter. Despite this unusual situation she seemed nonplussed and played silently with a plastic animal, making it ride a fire truck on the carpet.

“Trís?” called Fíli, “Come here, darling.” The young girl settled herself in Fíli's lap but stayed silent despite Fíli’s prodding, “Well, baby girl? Don't you think this Mr. Baggins fellow was nice?”

Trís declined to answer in favor of sticking her thumb into her mouth and sucking on it. It was a bad habit that she had never displayed as a baby, but which had showed up recently. Fíli delicately gathered her hand in his and pushed her hand away from her greedy lips with a pop. Her thumb already sported enough wrinkles.

“I am sure you will be very happy in this place. Have you noticed all the pretty colors?” Fíli continued, attempting to gain a response from the quiet child. He looked around the room and tried again, “Here! Look baby!”

He picked up the toy she had left on the floor by his feet, “I bet there are a whole lot more toys in every room, much more than at home!”

Trís finally met his eyes and encouraged, Fíli wiggled the toy in front of her face, “You will find plenty of new friends for this Mister…Mister...”

“It's a Mister Elephant,” supplied a deep, masculine voice.

Fíli looked up, startled, and met a pair of dark brown eyes. As his gaze continued to roam the teacher in front of him, his face flushed as he took in the man's masculine form tempered by a tiny, frilly, teacher's apron decorated with little animal paw patterns. It was almost comical, how the man's bulging muscles seemed to overtake the apron encasing them.

Fíli gulped and caught his wandering eyes quickly, before stuttering, “Uh...Hello? I’m sorry, but the Director is away right now.”

“Oh man, I thought you wanted to meet me? My name is Kíli O’Kenshild and I'll be Trís’ new educator.”

Fíli felt his face flame from pink to scarlet, entirely embarrassed at his assumptions about the gender of Trís’ teacher, and finding himself at a loss for words.

“Do you have dinosaurs too?” Trís saved him by enquiring. 

Kíli smiled warmly at the little girl, and approached her gently, “Yes we do, Trís, we have lots of toys; and there are so many other fun things we can do together along with the new friends you’ll make.”

With renewed confidence, Fíli managed to supply, “Trís adores dinosaurs, she only ever plays with them; you should see her room,” he broke off, chuckling slightly and inwardly cursing his own awkwardness, “Um…I'm Fíli Dùrin, Trís' dad. It’s nice to meet you Mr. O’Kenshild. Mr. Baggins said you could tell me more information about this place ?” Fíli asked uncertainly.

Kíli responded soothingly, “Please, call me Kíli. Everyone does! And man, did you make the right choice in coming here ! I know that I’m supposed to be supportive of the school, it’s kind of in the job description, but just look at this building! I can only say that, with my experience, this has been my most favorite school to work at; it’s truly a very lovely school Mr. Dùrin…” 

He broke off as the blonde corrected him, asking to, please, be called Fíli as well, “…Fíli. The teachers here, myself included, do our best to make each child feel welcomed and special. You might have seen in the entryway, our family board where we post pictures of loved ones we ask families to bring in. We welcome the children each morning with what we call an opening Circle Time, and close each day with a closing Circle Time. Moreover, we like to invite the parents or caregivers to join us during these times with their children, if you would be interested.” he paused, tilting his head at the blond’s increasingly distressed face.

“For those families requiring extra care — and they’re many, man are they many! — we provide open communication between teacher and parent, and leave a notebook on the sign-in counter for comments in the event the lead teacher, that is to say my humble self, is out of the room. Each day, if you so require, you’ll go home with a letter detailing Trís’ day; what she did, what she ate, who she played with,” Kíli quietened altogether at Fíli’s entirely lost expression, a blind man could see that he would really need to ease this nervous parent slowly and carefully into the classroom routine.

Kíli carefully considered his next words, not wanting to add to the man’s distress. He cleared his throat and asked, “So, are you ready for tomorrow then? Leaving is always harder on the parents than the children.” considering Fíli’s anxious face with worried eyes he grinned encouragingly at him as if wanting to spread his seemingly endless confidence.

Laughing nervously, Fíli mumbled from behind the hand covering his mouth, “Is it that obvious? You can't fault me for worrying over parting with my ûrzuduh for the first time,” he said dejectedly. Truly he didn’t think he would ever be ready. But the teacher was right; Trís didn’t appear to share his concerns, gazing impassively as she was straight through him.

“No, never,” Kíli stated softly before clearing his throat and continuing slightly gruff, “Separation can be hard, especially for a...single parent?” he inquired hesitantly, now blushing himself at his own forwardness.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that,” Fíli tried to explain himself to the reddening teacher. He cursed himself; now he had done it by upsetting him with his foolish hesitations. 

“As you guessed, I am a little nervous. Maybe you can tell me a little more about what to expect when dropping her off? I-I am supposed to stay for a…Circle Time? D-does she need lunch? Should I bring an extra coat?” he asked, slightly frustrated with himself for being so unsure about this. Now the teacher would think poorly of him, he shouldn’t have showed such obvious ignorance.

He hoped Kíli didn’t think he was an unconcerned parent, although judging by his display of ignorance, he might as well be. “I'm afraid I am a useless and clueless dad,” he supplied with a slightly hysterical chuckle followed with a deep sigh.

As Kíli started to explain the drop-off and pick-up procedures, Fíli felt Trís tightening her arms around his waist. He reached his hand up to pet her back in wide, soothing circles. They would make it through this, together.


	2. Dinosaurs stomping, all around.

Kíli turned back into the warm classroom with a discreet smile on his face; so far they had been off to a good start. He was surprised when Trís hadn’t cried upon Fíli’s departure. From her attitude, he couldn’t tell if she had had any separation anxiety issues, although her father clearly had; he had been shocked that after opening Circle Time, Fíli had been able to hug and kiss her goodbye with no tears and had walked out of the classroom while she stood in the doorway and watched him quietly. Kíli couldn’t refrain a chuckle as he remembered Fíli fumble through their songs and finger plays during Circle Time. Nonetheless, Kíli approved the man’s efforts, he was trying so desperately to make this a good experience for his daughter.

The teacher was growing rather concerned though, when it had been over twenty minutes after Fíli’s departure and Trís was still staring at the empty doorway without moving. She had yet to talk to anybody. Perhaps she needed a more inclusive distraction? When he had left her to her own device, the goal was to give her some space, some privacy to adjust; but now he could tell she needed some positive direction to snap her out of this despondent quiet. Kíli walked over to the crouching child and lowered himself to be on her eye-level, trying to peer into her grey eyes, which kept skittering away from his.

“Trís, would you like to join me and my friends to color a picture?” he murmured in his best ‘kind teacher’ tone whilst motioning over to the nearby art table where a small group of children were coloring contentedly, preferring this quiet activity over the louder trucks, blocks, and dramatic play centers.

Her nod was almost imperceptible; however, as she grabbed Kíli’s hand and was carefully led over to the art table, the teacher heard a small sniffle. He looked down at the child and saw that she had a steady stream of tears flowing down her freckled face, and that she was holding her lip in her teeth, trying to stifle her cries. His eyes widened and he felt his stomach drop, he had been so sure she was going to be all right.

The teacher dropped to his knees next to the sniffling child and tried to speak in a soothing voice.

“Trís, it’s okay to feel sad when our mommies and daddies leave us, but you know they’ll always come back, right? He will be here at the end of the day when he’s done with work. He has to be gone just for a little while to be at his job so he can buy nice things for you,” he tried to reason with the young child. She did seem rather reasonable and he hoped this logical approach would help; when she only cried harder he tried another way.

“Trís, would you like a hug?” he questioned gently, hoping she would allow him to comfort her, but she only shook her head fervently in refusal and wrapped her chubby arms around her heaving torso.

Kíli was starting to get rather worried, though he remained professional and calm for Trís’ benefit; the small child was now hiccuping and gasping on her breath from her wailing cries. If she didn’t stop soon she might get a bloody nose, she could faint or throw up, or something worse. She was practically hysterical and Kíli was close to his own his own breaking point too. He just might have a big weakness for heartbreaking, sad children; it was his life mission to give them the help they so desperately needed.

“Trís, I need you to take some deep breaths with me, can you do that for me? If you don’t calm down you’re going to make yourself sick, dear.”

He grabbed her hands away from her body and held them firmly in his larger, warm grip, grounding her; before saying, “Would you look at me? I need you to look at me, Trís.”

When she refused to look at him, choosing instead to wail and turn her head to the floor, he tucked his crooked finger under her trembling chin and turned her face up to his.

Finally, her gaze focused on his and he said, “Now breathe in, real deep,” while inhaling deeply himself and holding it in for a second before exhaling slowly and steadily, “And breathe out.”

He repeated the action a few times until he could see Trís trying to mimic him, “That’s it Trís, good job, just like that,” he encouraged her while she slowly calmed down. “Just follow my lead. That’s it… you’re doing real good,” he continued to murmur little nonsense to her and to create a pattern for her to follow an indeterminate amount of time.

Eventually, the little blonde had regained her calm and was left sniffling and slightly gasping in front of the worried teacher, “Would you like a tissue, Trís?” he questioned gently.

She nodded and sniffled again as thick snot ran out of her nose and trailed in sticky strings from her chin. Kíli grabbed a box of tissues for her and allowed her to take one and clean her face up; she was already such an independent little thing. Well, he could see that she thought of herself as independent, but a careful eye would notice she would need a lot of care to rebuild confidence. Much like her over-anxious father, Kíli mused to himself. He could feel his interest rising for the fragile pair the father and daughter made; he wished he could take away their hurt. They had inexplicably and with alarming quickness taken his heart away. Especially poor Trís, she seemed like such a sweet, little girl and he had yet to see her smile.

He looked at the clock. She had been crying for over twenty minutes, and the time for center activities was almost over. He crouched back down and asked, “Are you ready, Trís? Now it’s almost time to go outside.”

When her eyes widened until the grey almost disappeared behind the black of her pupils, Kíli soothed, “I know the morning seems to have gone by fast, but we have a schedule in this classroom, you can see it right here or ask me anytime you’re feelings confused,” he explained calmly, while showing her the picture chart schedule on the wall; there were little black and white images showing each activity throughout the day and a large, red clothes pen attached to whichever activity they were currently engaged in. 

“See, right now the clothes peg is on the centers picture, because we’re playing in our centers, and next it will be time to go outside and we will move the clothes peg to the outside picture. Would you like to be my helper and move the clothespin for me after cleanup time?” Kíli asked, hoping to appeal to her self-reliant nature. She should thrive at being her teacher’s ‘helper’.

She nodded silently and he thought he saw a courageous smile in her serious face.

Trís made it through the rest of the morning and lunch without another breakdown but she stayed silent and did not try to participate in the outdoor activities. She answered inquiries to him or any of the other children who came over to make friends with the new girl with monosyllabic answers, despite Kíli hovering near her the entire time.

The teacher was glad she seemed to take comfort from his presence but wished she felt confident enough to talk to him or make friends with the other children; she didn’t participate in any of the games. Though he was glad she hadn’t cried again, he was rather concerned at her apathy and lack of interaction — this was not good, she needed some of Kíli’s 'Special' to come out of her shell.

He could tell she just felt very insecure and he had some ideas to help with this mood; perhaps a picture chart schedule at home that included school time, and maybe a special, cuddly doll that she could hold from home when she missed her parents. He could also write home a letter on her progress and activities each day for Fíli to read over and share with Trís each evening during their ‘special family time’ Oh! He would suggest the father implement it at the dinner table. It was important for Fíli to show Trís that school was a positive thing, by being excited about all of her daily activities.

With all of this special attention, she was sure to develop into a fully unreserved and communicative ball of joy, as she was born to be. He just knew Fíli was a good father and would no doubt be excited about anything she did anyways, but he wanted to make sure that the anxious man was successfully communicating this to his quiet, sullen child.

He was warmed to see how Fíli interacted with his little girl, he was a very devoted father; he just needed a little help in allowing and encouraging her to come to trust and depend on others. A bond between a parent and child is a beautiful thing, but can become unhealthy if the child refuses to open up to others and becomes unable to participate in other social events. Kíli wanted to help Fíli show Trís that it was okay to open up at school, to participate in activities and make friends, and that at the end of the day her interactions wouldn’t take away the special bond she shared with her father.

His daydream had made him forget about the passing time, they had to leave the gardens soon to stay on schedule. Sure enough, when it was time for the children to lie down for their nap, Trís waited until all the children laid on the beds in order to choose the most isolated sleeping place. It was also pretty far from where Kíli usually choose to observe his protégés. He did hear a quiet sniffling near her cot and he observed that she had a very difficult time falling asleep. Kíli sat next to her and asked if it was all right to pet her back to which she shook her head negatively and turned away from him. The teacher sighed and fisted his hand; he wouldn’t try to physically touch her if she didn’t want it. He just ached to scoop the poor child up and hug her till her cries quieted; he wanted to see her smile.

“I’ll still be here when you wake, Trís; it’s all right to close your eyes. Would you like a dinosaur to hold while you rest?” Kíli asked hopefully, maybe she wouldn’t cuddle with him but she could cuddle with a dinosaur, Fíli had said she loved them.

Trís sniffled and nodded her head positively for once and Kíli happily grabbed a soft triceratops doll and handed it over to her. She curled around the little dinosaur despite the hard plastic like it was a lifeline and quickly drifted off to sleep after that.

A little while later, though, she appeared to be squirming fitfully on her cot and got up awkwardly. Seeing her walking to the bathroom, Kíli refrained from swooping back down from where he had been perched on a table writing parent letters to check on her. But when too many minutes were gone, Kíli decided it wouldn't be too overbearing or controlling to check up on her. He found Trís trying to use the soap on her drenched pajama pants. Her large eyes fluttered open and she looked down to her legs where her still-warm urine had soaked through her underwear. When Trís saw that she had been caught hiding the evidence that she had wet herself during her brief nap she appeared to panic and her chin trembled, before she let out an irrepressible wail, disturbing the other sleeping children.

“Shhh, it’s alright Trís, everyone has accidents. We’ll just clean you up and find some spare clothes and you’ll be right as rain,” Kíli tried to reassure positively, almost putting on a false, cheery tone to his voice to keep the small child from breaking down completely like earlier that morning. The timing was unwelcome for his own panic at his helplessness.

Trís simply shook her head and flinched whenever Kíli tried to get close to help her clean up, her sobs growing louder and her breathing more labored. After about 20 minutes of this all the children were awake and gathered around the crying child, staring with panicked expressions while the assistant teacher tried to shoo them away and make them read books at the Circle Time carpet. Trís was growing more distressed by the minute and the presence of the other children wasn’t helping, her anxiety hit a crescendo and she choked on her cries and threw up violently all over herself and the cot. 

Kíli grabbed at her hair and quickly provided some tissues to wipe off her face with before whispering, “Trís, darling, you need to calm down; you need to let me help you clean up honey.” 

Trís stared up at the teacher with wide, teary eyes before wincing and scurrying off to the corner to hide behind a plastic motorcycle and press her triceratops upon her heaving chest closely while still sobbing loudly. Kíli instructed his assistant teacher to explain to Mr. Bilbo that this really was a serious situation and that her father needed to be called before following after the crying child and hovering over her, trying to calm her hysteria.


	3. An Egosaurus Only cares ’bout himself, Won’t give you any help

As Fíli left the warm building and headed onto the cold streets, he looked up at the windows and tried to guess which one belonged to his sweet girl's classroom. Maybe he could spot her and she would wave at him? Just as he turned back, a curly head appeared at the second floor. As a decidedly good omen, the broad-shouldered teacher looked straight at the blonde and gave him the thumbs up.

Fíli sighed and with a slightly less heavy heart, headed in the direction of his new job. After a twenty-minute walk, he arrived in front of The Foundry, an old boiler house. It was a quaint building, seemingly out-of-time in the modern neighborhood. It was composed of red bricks and wide windows dating from the industrial revolution; though a recent and, Fíli thought, rather ugly white portable building protruded from the structure. On the top of it all, a very high chimney thrummed with life and spit out large streams of puffy grey smoke.

Before entering, Fíli took some calming breaths and tried to give himself a pep talk, which consisted mostly of his new mantra, “Don't fuck this up, don't fuck this up, don't you dare fuck this up!”

Finally, he entered the building and went in search of Dwalin Brokkr, his new boss and owner of the boiler house. The same as the first time he had entered to be interviewed the entryway was mostly empty of life but filled with many mixed objects, modules, tools and samples from the manufacturer. Iron castings, steel boilers and related accessories, all sparkling and stainless, meant to act as a display of sort. Behind a door, he could hear the familiar noises of blow torches, searing heat, vapor and fire. He entered and was assailed by the heat of the workroom and the smell of heated metal. Several people were bent over long tables, most of them working in groups of two to four. Some lifted their head to observe the newcomer but bent back to scrutinize their work immediately.

He found his boss also occupied with a blowtorch; bent over a pipe while hot, orange sparks flew wildly around, fanning off the blue flames. The tall and bulky man had rather intimidated Fíli during his interview. He was so tall that despite his big hands and short legs, Fíli was convinced he had some troll ancestry. But determined to initiate a good working relationship, Fíli came up to the stern man with a smile on his face.

Dwalin grumbled a welcome behind his beard and stopped his work a minute later. He didn’t utter a word while he cleaned up his work station and led Fíli directly to his workstation, at which point he declared abruptly, “Well, you should know what to do,” and left without even giving him a set task or sharing where all the tools and protective gear were. However, Fíli noticed that his workstation was exactly in the gruff man's line of sight.

At a loss, Fíli looked around desperately, wanting so badly for his first day to not be a complete disaster. A nearby boiler smith seemed to take pity on the lost-looking man and headed in his direction. As the smith took off their bulky protective helmet, they actually revealed themselves to be a large woman named Chuck, with a smooth face and a blinding smile. With her help and guidance, Fíli could finally begin the job he was paid to do. She showed him the blueprints for a simple bent pipe part with welded seams, destined for a combustion engine for a textile plant.

“You will find all the protective clothing and equipment in these drawers”, she indicated metal dressers and chests on the far side of the room, “and in the green chests here, you will find all the tools you need. In the blue ones, there are the plain materials, including the steel sheets you will use. All the equipment, modules and machines in this room,” she made a sweeping gesture of the whole area, including the vapor cooler, steam distributor, gas regulator, “are free to use.”

“And I can see these yellow drawers are labelled neatly with all the useful small parts, Chuck,” Fíli completed with a flirty smile. He would make sure he passed his first co-worker’s inspection.

The woman squinted her eyes at him. “You will find this is a small factory, and the people here are pretty laid-back. But if I see you fool around with the equipment, you will have me to answer to.”

“Yes ma’am,” answered Fíli, chastised, as the broad woman swept past him without further explanation. Even if Fíli was expecting some initial rejection due to The Foundry being akin to a closed society, he knew a bit of testing had to be expected when one was brought into a group for the first time but it stung.

The work presented no particular difficulty, but Fíli feared that at first, his moist hands and beating heart would hinder his efficiency. He put on the well-worn hard hat that was mandatory for such a dangerous work and pulled down the face-guard. Hidden from sight, he already felt the deep-set panic abide. How strange that the familiarity of the work would reassure him. Not only had it been longer than a decade since he last held such instruments, but his memories of that time held more bitterness than merry remembrances.

Welding was a very monotonous and repetitive job, not to mention tiring. Though he was rusty and out of practice, Fíli got the hang of it quickly and fell back into his old reflexes and abilities. The blunt looks his boss threw his way all through the morning seemed satisfied, if uncalled for. At least Dwalin’s testing measured his worth openly, not covertly like most desk jobs were often wont to do. By lunchtime, he was entirely exhausted, soaked in sweat, and covered in smudgy soot and refuse.

His attempts at conversation with Dwalin during lunch break were rebuked and sternly frowned upon, as if he wasn’t allowed such familiarity, and any comments he had thrown towards Chuck had been unsuccessful in actually blooming into a full dialogue. Though Chuck’s short, one-word answers to his utterances and reluctance to converse seemed to be more a result of his own inability to keep his comments quiet and his mouth stilled so their strict boss wouldn’t notice. He did learn that Chuck, who answered to feminine and neutral pronouns was, in fact, a gas fitter and radiographer engineer, in charge of all of The Foundry’s maintenance and repairs, and very proud of their trade, as evidenced by the quiet tone of her voice every time she spoke of work. Which was actually the sole subject of their conversation.

His lunchbox quickly emptied, Fíli observed his co-workers eating forlornly. Fíli was completely worn out, the last time he had maintained such a tiring job was when he was trying to pay for his studies, years ago. Smithing had long helped him sustain himself, but he had hoped that as he grew older and hopefully wiser, his days of sweating for survival would be over. If only he knew how to do something useful other than a trade he suffered so much for as a youngster.

The afternoon promised to be much the same as the morning. Fíli was wielding his blowtorch against the stainless steel with renewed confidence, figuring the test from the morning was over. His boss had stopped his less than discreet surveillance over his work. In fact, Fíli hadn’t seen him return to his desk since lunch break. But the pipe was nearly complete, only the more detailed work was left, which could be done cold, when Dwalin suddenly signed to him to stop working. Filled with dread, Fíli lifted his helmet, and Dwalin's order to follow him did nothing to reassure the anxiety building in his gut. He led Fíli to his office where the huge man bluntly pointed to the phone headset lying on the desk. Surprised, Fíli picked it up hesitantly.

Dwalin squinted his eyes at him, leaning heavily against the doorframe, while Fíli stuttered a tentative, “Hello?”

“Finally!” the voice on the phone answered, “I've been waiting for fifteen minutes! Are you indeed Mr. Dùrin?”

It was Mr. Baggins! As his legs unexpectedly turned to jelly, Fíli tried to keep his composure and replied in a cool tone, “Yes, is anything wrong? Is Trís alright?”

“Actually, I think your presence is required. It is not the school’s policy to call a guardian at work, but your daughter became rather upset; and Kíli, you know, Trís’ teacher, insisted I call you,” the Director explained as calmly as possible.

Now completely frantic, Fíli tried to obtain more information, but Bilbo kept insisting everything was alright, “Really, this is very unusual, and of course Trís hasn’t been harmed. Fauntling’s Realm is a perfectly safe environment! I so dearly hope this unfortunate event won't reflect badly on the school’s image.”

As Fíli began to fall apart, babbling into the headset out of anxiety and losing his rational thought process at feeling entirely overwhelmed Dwalin grabbed the receiver from the blonde’s shaking hands and took control of the conversation. After a few clipped comments, “Yes…He will…Most unfortunate…He will,” during which Fíli kept throwing glances between Dwalin and the open door, the big man hung up.

Dwalin looked down at Fíli and grumbled, “What are you still doing here? Go on, your tyke is waiting for you.”

Without further ado, Fíli took off.

***

After a quick side trip to his apartment (Among Mr. Baggins’ flow of words, he remembered wet clothes were mentioned and the needing of new ones), Fíli arrived at Fauntling’s Realm, shaking from running the whole way, out of breath, and entirely filthy from work.

A teacher pushed him in the right direction and as Fíli entered the classroom, his gaze was immediately drawn to his distraught daughter. She was cuddled around a triceratops figure, partially hidden behind a large plastic motorcycle. The young male teacher was hovering over her with an army of small, noisy children dogging his steps.

As Fíli approached the group, he could hear the most dreaded of sounds: little hiccups, halted breaths, and sometimes a tiny moan. They were the sounds his daughter made whenever she was trying her hardest not to cry, and failing miserably. It was a painfully familiar pattern, and one Fíli dreamed to eradicate eventually.

In the meantime all he could do was push his way through the crowd, sit with Trís and wait. Thankfully, she threw herself in his arms. Sometimes she wouldn't even let him touch her. Fíli closed his eyes and nudged against his baby girl until his chin rested on top of her head. A wide hand settled on his shoulder, attracting his attention to the brunette teacher. With his other hand, the teacher was rubbing Trís’ back soothingly. 

After a while, Trís calmed her cries, soothed enough to regulate her breathing and staunch the flow of tears. Kíli led them outside, into the hallway and away from the sudden silence of the classroom.


	4. I met a Candysaurus Rex

The smell of asphalt right as the rain started hitting it filled his nose. One of his favorite smells. Trís thought just like him. In fact, she loved the rain so much she had forgone watching her cartoons on TV and spent the evening with him staring at the window, waiting in vain for a lightning bolt and counting the snails with her father, who “helped” her keeping count, since Trís simply repeated the names of the numbers she remembered in no particular order. Exhaustion from her day had quickly caught up with her and she went to bed early without a token protest, which left Fíli free to shop for food as soon as the rain stopped.

His friendly but deaf neighbor, Óin, would look after his daughter… But still, Fíli wanted to hurry; the man might have been a Healer, but his obliviousness, more than his deafness worried him. Óin had told him with great glee of his brother’s anger when he had dropped his newborn nephew, a boy no older than Trís, the first time he held him. Yes, Óin was kind enough, but Fíli wished he had a different option than the old man for when he left Trís at home.

Besides, the building wasn’t safe by a long shot. No fire escape, no safety on the ovens, the doors of the forever broken lift opened on a void that didn’t stop until the basement’s floor. Fíli’s tenant was a well-known crook. Smaug practiced the lowest prices on the market, but no one doubted he made one hell of a profit. Fíli had met him a couple of time. He was dismissive, borderline rude toward him, and honey-tongued when he addressed his superiors. The man must be related to Balrogs, he was that foul, was Fíli’s conclusion. Thank Mahal his neighbors at least were kind.

It was just as he came out of the Wal-mart’s bakery shop that he spotted an unaccountably familiar tall figure in a curious outfit, clumsy in the Walmart from trying to navigate around the displays with the huge bow he carried. It looked like some kind of Asiatic practice uniform. The professor O’Kenshild looked simply stunning, if completely out of place. Fíli swallowed. The sober attire, complete with the white kimono and black hakama associated with an extremely long patterned slipcover, taller than the man, screamed Chinese, or perhaps Japanese martial art. But what made Fíli gasp was the sport shoes on his feet, baguettes and bags filled with sweets in one hand, jersey bag in the other and hair dripping with water. Some might find the sight incongruous or grotesque, but the blond experienced a long forgotten warmness in his body and a constricting feeling inside of his chest. He closed his eyes against the onslaught of emotions and when he opened them, Kíli was looking straight at him.

With a smile, the man waved him over and trotted hurriedly in his direction, not taking into account the size of his equipment and of his several bags and tripping spectacularly as a pile of crackers went crashing around him. After a moment of silence, Fíli went to help him, containing a smile. It would teach him for being so damn tall.

Up close, a masculine scent assaulted him, oozing from the still bewildered man who was staring at the disaster at his feet. Moved by the same inspiration, they both crouched and reached for the nearest case. Which was a big mistake as, at the contact of their hands and thighs, Fíli felt goose bump running all over his body and jerked his hand away.

“Whoa !” 

“Hey! Did you feel it too?” Fíli hesitated for a second, turning away. “The rain must have been be charged with electricity,” before grabbing a bunch of DVDs and forming a pile. The brunet even let him do all the work as he apologized to the staff.

“Man, I’m so sorry you had to do this!” He exclaimed as he realized that Fíli had finished alone. “You didn’t have to, I could have done it…”

Appeased, Fíli contemplated his wobbly pile. It should hold, but best not stay in case it didn’t. “No need to apologize, you were busy… I understand.”

“Please, let me make it up to you ! How do you feel about a coffee ? There is one just around the corn…”

“Yes, yes, perfect !” Fíli cut him off without paying attention, stirring the man away from a second disaster in the making.

But in the process, he became the one tugged along, the solid pressure on his arm guiding him relentlessly to a Starbuck and to a booth next to the glass window. When he glanced back, a small woman with tied blond hair was waving angrily toward Fíli’s half-assed attempt at a cracker’s pyramid. Fíli turned his head back slowly. Ignorance was bliss.

The O’Kenshild whirlwind had not even bothered to check on the consequences of his clumsiness and was already choosing some drink at the counter. Fíli looked around the coffee shop. They were encompassed all around in wide glass windows but an array of posters advertising this or that product hid them from the outside world. A great number of people were surrounding them, some families, talking animatedly while the children were running around, some loud groups of youngsters arguing between themselves and, apart from the crowds, some couples were talking quietly with their eyes. 

Fíli settled back in the comfy sofa safely situated in the corner of the commerce and followed his daughter’s strange teacher with his eyes. The man was currently gesturing and waving his hands as he possibly recounted his entire day to the pretty waitress attending him. They were both very close, both bending above the counter so that their smiling faces were centimeters apart. Fíli adverted his eyes.

When Kíli came back, he was carrying a plate of two cups of coffee along with an assortment of sugar, biscuits and milk samples.

“A Starbucks?” Fíli teased him as he took place in front of him.

“What else did you expect inside of a Walmart? Fauchon?” Kíli laughed good humouredly at him; he seemed to do that a lot. “I hope coffee is fine with you. I couldn’t guess how you take it, so I chose a bit of everything. You don’t mind?”

Fíli wasn't quite sure why, but when Kíli laughed it made him want to laugh too, or at least for the corners of his lips to turn up from their constantly worried expression. He could have simply waited to ask him, but it seemed nothing could deflect this determined man once his mind was made. He shook his head negatively, his embarrassment at showing his fleeting contentment stealing his words and grabbed the hot cup with both hands, the heat spreading through the plastic to his hands. But his smile faded as he saw the change occurring on the educator’s face.

"How's Trís doing?" he inquired, in a tone that implied more than politeness hid behind the question.

Fíli coughed, he had just burned his tongue on the too hot drink. " Well… She was tired and went to bed early. A neighbor is keeping an eye on her at the moment.” How strange that the reason why the task fell on a neighbor still managed to deprive him of all joy. Would this mixed feeling of emptiness and culpability ever fade… He gave a tight lipped smile, making an effort to meet the teacher’s eyes. "There are things I should have mentioned to you before. Now is as good a time as any. "

Kíli nodded rather seriously; there was a story behind each family but this one just gave a more broken air than others. He just wished to help the little family in whatever way he could; and if his desires to help Fíli were a tad bit more than professional, well he didn't need to think on that too hard at the moment.

"Yes?" Kíli prodded gently when Fíli quieted, "It's all right, as Trís' teacher, I'm bound by confidentiality practices to not share what you tell me with anyone unless it's harmful of course," he faltered when Fíli's frown lines deepened, "But I don't think that's the case here. Just tell me what's going on Fíli, and maybe I can help?" he questioned hopefully.

"I didn't even think of that," said Fíli, mulling over his answer and toying with the spoon in his cup of coffee, waiting for the drink to cool down a bit more. "What I should have told you straight away is that...Trís' mother and I have had a hard falling out, and it was fairly recent. It officially ended four months ago, in fact. She… I… it was my fault, I didn't treat her right," assaulted by a whirlpool of memories, he had to stop and take a deep breath, his eyelids tightly clenched. 

"Anyway, her mother can't take care of her on a daily basis, even though it breaks her heart not to be as involved in Trís’ life as she could be. She's a stewart in an airline company, so the guardianship of Trís kind of fell on me. More by default than based on any child raising capacities of mine, I’m afraid. It's been a struggle up until now, since I was looking for a job while trying to find a school for Trís’ education. We had to rely on Tara's child support money, since she is the only money-maker of the family. But as I said to your director, it won't be a problem anymore," he finished in a rush, seeming rather flustered as if he didn't open up very often. He took refuge in drinking a big mouthful of his coffee, hiding his features behind the cup.

The difficult, halted flow of words told Kíli this had been extremely hard for the touchy blond, he felt honored that the private man had even chosen to divulge anything at all; the smile he had been nurturing internally bloomed over his face; he couldn’t stay serious any longer. With a little luck he wouldn’t screw this up - he could be rather blunt at times and seemed to always say the wrong thing. He could be a clutz with things and emotions, blubbering through life just like he did through the store when he knocked all the movies over. He wondered fleetingly if Fíli had been unnerved or appalled by his earlier display. Or if he would he find his usual carelessness endearing. Though he ducked his head reflexively when he caught himself in flagrant-délit of considering this lovely, blond man as a potential partner in the future. Of course he wasn’t even on his radar. The man had more important things to think of!

"I don't think Mr. Bilbo is worried about that, Fíli. I - we - just want to make sure Trís and you are both adjusting all right with her attending school now. Especially knowing about your recent difficulties, which could affect a child, and I think we can offer Trís some more stability through schooling like you and I discussed the other day in the hall. How's the picture chart working out at home for you?”, he asked gently.

Suddenly all smiles, Fíli answered, "She stuck it on the fridge as soon as we got home," he bowed his head under the blinding smile Kíli was aiming his way, "I'm thinking of asking my new boss for a written schedule. This way she will understand my time obligations too. I was… I was thinking maybe we could color it together," he stammered while hiding a hesitant smile, "Despite my erm... past behavior, she's never been afraid of me. She's a good girl. I know she'll find her place at Fauntling's. But, it might take some time," he ended distractedly, not noticing Kíli's alarmed expression.

"Why would Trís be afraid of you?" Kíli demanded, his voice sharp. 

For one second, hot anger flared through Fíli; anger about Kíli’s assumption, at himself for the part of truth in Kíli’s accusation, his fucking life because now people could look at him and think he would molest his own little girl, and that hurt the most. But the anger flashed and then died, like a forest fire spluttering out when it hit the charred remains left behind by an old fire. That's what Fíli felt like—an old burnt-out mountainside full of charred remains and ash. He forced his lips, pressed together, to open. “I’ve not been a good husband or a good father to Trís. Don’t get me wrong, I've never been an aggressive person, I would never raise a hand on anybody, less alone family or a child. But… I was not really myself. For a long period of time. I'm a lot better now, but I can't expect Trís to just… forget."

Kíli reined in his fierce protectiveness; Trís was fine, his concern was unwarranted. He was so relieved, he had felt so tense for a moment; but he needed to remember that not everyone was an abuser like he had seen in other cases. 

"I can understand that, everyone goes through hard times," he responded easily, trying to gentle the blond into sharing more.

"I know she's a very resilient girl. She takes it from her mother. You'll see, she'll surprise you once she gets her bearings. I remember one time, she must not have been much older than two, her pet goldfish died. She cried so much that Tarría bought her a new one, absolutely identical. And here we were, announcing the poor fish’s resurrection to the unsuspecting child. Would you believe we had not fooled her for a second! She was quite cross at us for lying to her. I think from this point on, I’ve never tried to lie to her again. But she took the little fish from Tarría’s hands and quickly named him — what was it… I think Flo or something… — and took care of him until…”

Fíli suddenly felt bile rise up in his throat. How could he have forgotten how the little fish died, under what circumstances? No, he hadn’t exactly forgotten. The fish had suddenly just ceased to exist, around the time of the worst period of the divorce. Trís was too young to remember to feed it every time. Mostly, Tarría had fed it, sometime him, when he was in a sober state. But everyone was so busy. No time for goldfishes trapped in little tanks. Had Trís been the one who found the little animal’s corpse? Had anyone been with her when she mourned… bloody hell, what was it’s name?

Ah, Trís’s teacher was talking to him. He had lost quite a bit of the conversation rummaging and remembering the past. “…And that’s how all the little frogs left were released in the river, and why the pond inside the school’s garden has never again contained anything alive. Mahal, I thought nothing would quench the little ones’ tears. They were inconsolable.” Fíli laughed softly, hoping it was the correct reaction.

“So… something’s been bothering me for a while, if you don’t mind my asking but how come I’ve never seen you before? This is not such a big town that everyone doesn’t know everyone by sight. Well, it’s not exactly small, but I would have remembered you!” Fíli tilted his head. Wow, there went a total turnover… had Kíli really complimented his appearance? And in such a totally cliched, and flirty fashion. The best way to answer such a cheeky question, which broke through all his safeguards was to simply state the truth.

“When Tarría and I went our separate ways, we agreed to sell our old house. I came here to the suburbs of Erebor since it’s one of the few places where the prices are somewhat affordable and I won’t be too afraid to let Trís grow up there. Sadly, since money was getting scarce and I couldn’t find any real job, I had to balance all my freelancing jobs — I worked every job from short-order cook to truck driver — while taking care of Trís and getting her to and from school. The really hard part was the fluctuating and unpredictable hours. Now, with this new stable job that I just got, we’ll finally be able to settle down.”

“So... what is it that you do, Fíli? From your words, I gather you master a fair range of competences.” Kíli asked curiously.

“I wouldn’t say competence. I simply learn quickly. But this new job requires actual knowledge and abilities. It’s a boil-smithing job. Fortunately, I have an old but long history with smithing. I’ve spent my whole youth inside my father’s workstation, learning his trade.”

“Tell me more. "

This was finally a less heavy and possibly less heart attack-inducing subject. Trís’s teacher seemed like such a gentle and concerned soul, he hated to paint such a poor image of himself. Then again, everything was true and it was not even the worst of the story.

“Maybe you’ve heard or know about the place? I’m working at The Foundry. I’m going to do boiling work under Mr Dwalin, an experienced veteran from the look of it. If I didn’t know better, I could even hazard that it’s a look he’s carefully cultivating.” Dwalin was sporting such a gruff composure along with his impressive musculature and dirty work clothes. It almost looked like a design, among the beautiful décor of the Foundry.

“Is that the charming factory just outside of town? Dude, you’re so lucky to work in such a nice place! With a job such as yours, you would think you’d have to brace yourself for ugly, huge and impersonal factories, instead you get the homely old Foundry. You know, I even think this place is classified. It was build during the industrial revolution, and crafted to endure. But so many of them have been destroyed. I think Erebor is really lucky to have such a beautiful building in its midst. And the fact that it’s still in use is just the icing on the cake.”

It was the first time Fíli had heard of this, and Kíli’s enthusiasm made him consider the Foundry in a new way. “Fauntling’s Realm is just as beautiful, although in a different way. I heard it’s been in Mr. Baggins’s family for several generations? But it looks so modern and friendly, with all this wood, and the round structure. Oh, and the round windows and the doors, it really gives off a safe feeling for the children. No wonder you speak of it with such fondness.” He still couldn’t believe his luck as all the other schools had rejected Trís on account of their lateness in the enrolling schedules. Fíli simply had no idea that schools were so strict and he still regretted deeply his inaptitude at taking care of Trís’s basic needs. But he was already struggling with finding long-term jobs and keeping a roof above their heads.

Kíli sighed contentedly. “It truly is a sight to behold, ain’t it?” He sipped his coffee. “But I think the best thing are the gardens. Bilbo is taking care of it himself and the children have their own little corner where they can take care of a few plants and vegetables,” Kíli added while finishing the last drops of his cup.

A bit of coffee was stuck in the corner of Kíli’s mouth and Fíli had the sudden impulsion to wipe it with his fingers. Before he realized it, he had reached the few centimeters separating him from the skin of the man facing him.

“You’ve got a stain of coffee, there,” he said, just short of actually wiping it with his thumb. Kíli opened his mouth to answer.

“Oh.” Kíli’s breath brushed his fingers and sent a shiver through his body. Suddenly inspired, he approached closer and, with his other hand, wiped the coffee stain with the tissue provided with both their coffees.

“There, all better.”

“Ah, no!” The moment was broken as Kíli’s materials felt all over the linoleum floor when he jerked in surprise.

Fíli laughed “By Mahal’s balls, teach! You really are a walking hazard!”

Red as a tomato, Kíli punched good humouredly Fíli’s shoulder and replaced his long bow in a precarious equilibrium between his seat and his bags before Fíli could lend a hand.

“This bow looks expensive. Shouldn’t you take good care of it? And by the way, what is it? I’ve never seen such a long and bizarre bow before,” Fíli asked.

“It’s a yumi. I practice Kyudo in the dojo, it’s part of the sportive complex in the street across from Walmart. See, there’s the bow, I wrap it in both fabric and bubble wrap to protect it, and the arrows are more fragile, so I wrap them in a slipcover and I keep them in a special case. Water is extremely destructive for them, that’s why I was procrastinating going home in the rain.”

“Wow, isn’t that a bit extreme?”

Kíli ducked his head “A bit. But I love doing archery so much! The way it helps me focus, the calm it gives me… believe me I need the extra focus! That’s why I’m taking such good care of my material,” he gave Fíli a mischievous smirk. 

“Well, that’s part of the truth. I really wanted to buy sweets. I ended up taking more than I usually do,” he added and made a show of taking a few packets out of his bags, making Fíli gasp. There were at least a dozen of them, enough to start a child’s birthday party with at least twenty guests! Fíli thought. He also noticed many magazines piled inside the bags. Magazines about gardening, about sport, children stories, outdoor activity, psychology… he really had bought an unusual amount of books. At the bottom of the huge pile he could spot a cover with a nude male model.

But at that precise moment, his phone rang. It was Oín.

“Sorry, I’ve got to take this,” he told Kíli.

Óin was asking him how much longer Fíli planned to be since the night was falling. Fíli looked to the exit. It was indeed getting darker, but the rain had stopped and the streets were dry. Kíli gave him a cheerful nod, he had heard everything. After assuring Óin that he would be home in a few minutes, he hung up.

“How much do I owe you?” he asked Kíli. He gave him a grin full of teeth, grabbed the note on the table and hid it.

“Nothing, man. Thank you for opening up to me and, you know, sharing your story.”

“No, it’s okay. I had fun talking with you,” Fíli assured him.

“Then it’s perfect, you’ll pay next time!” Kíli took his hand between his and began to shake it.

“Come see me tomorrow after school, we haven’t had time to talk about Trís enough. I can’t wait to see her again in the morning!” 

Fíli took on a decisive stance and returned the shake. “Teach, I can promise you that we’ll both be there early tomorrow.” He had a long walk to work anyway, might as well come early. “I’m sure Trís will feel better tomorrow. She used to make friends easily, and I know she’ll be yours very soon.”

And for once, he actually believed that. With Kíli, Trís would have a chance to open up again, he was sure of it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a picture of Trís


	6. Oh, I wish I was a dino at the zoo, I could splash my tail and roar at you

“No papa, I can’t wear this coat, it’s too hot and itchy!”

“Are you sure? I heard the weather report this morning, it could rain after lunch. You have outdoor activities in the afternoon too, right?”

Trís’s whole face seemed to scrunch as she thought. “I’ll check,” she said while running to the refrigerator, where her schedule was pinned.

Fíli crouched down next to her and pointed to the appropriate places. “It’s right here, the second column is for tuesday. Your lunch is there, in the middle, and from here on is your afternoon.”

Trís sighed. “Then yes, I must take the coat,” she concluded forlornly before turning away. The dreaded coat was in Fíli’s hands, he tapped it with the tip of his fingers. It was doubled with a furry material and the exterior was knitted. It looked pretty, warm and practical, but Fíli remembered that as a child, he also had trouble wearing knitted pullovers as they scratched his neck and wrists in the most irritating way.

“Come on, Trís! We have to be there early. We don’t want to miss Circle time!”

: : :

Trís handed him her three-horned dinosaur for fear she would drop it on the still damp street floor while Fíli untied her from her seat. Then he secured his rusty bicycle to the high railing a few meters away from Fauntling’s Realm. And then he stopped.

He forced himself to release a deep breath. Really, he was being silly. There was no reason to be embarrassed, no reason to even think of excuses to justify leaving Trís at the door and just going straight to work. That would be unkind to the extreme and there was just no reason to! So yes, Kíli, a virtual stranger knew more about his life than anyone outside of Tarría and perhaps Trís. Yes, the teacher had made him smile for real, for the first time since… he didn’t even remember when. But that was normal behavior. He was glad Kíli knew more about Trís’s background and could handle her education in full awareness. And he didn’t have to feel guilty for smiling.

So, time to go. Fíli took Trís’s warm hand in his own clammy one.

The two of them had just barely crossed the threshold of the brightly lit entry hall that were greeted by an enthusiastic “Hey, you’re early!” from Kíli. Fíli did a double take. Today, the teacher was wearing a floral apron in a bright fuchsia complete with frills on the edge.

“Erm… Yes, hello to you too.”

“Hello, Mr. O’Kenshild. My papa has to go to work early so I’m going to school now,” Trís supplied from behind Fíli’s back. One of the triceratops’ horns were digging into Fíli’s leg but if Trís needed what little reassurance he could offer, he was only too glad to provide.

“That’s perfect, it will give you the time to get to know the other children while the playground is still calm. You’re not the only family who needs to get up early, you know. Poor little Legolas has been here since an hour ago.”

“Really? That’s a comfort.” But not one that could erase his feeling of abandonment at letting go of Trís so early in the day. He crouched down and took Trís into his arms. She snuggled against him to find the perfect position, the one that let her be engulfed the most into Fíli’s admittedly large embrace.

“You hear that, my heart? There will only be a few children, the whole garden is yours. You know you don’t have to talk to anybody if you don’t feel like it. But if a nice girl or a nice boy talks to you, don’t forget to be polite and nice to them, right?” He couldn’t pass the opportunity to nuzzle his face behind her ear and to take a deep breath of her perfect baby shampoo smell. “You’ll see, everything will be alright. Mr. O’Kenshild will keep an eye on you all day.”

“Of course I will,” a nearby voice added softly to his left. “And not just me, but every teacher here is there for you anytime you need. All the adults here are very nice. We all make sure that everyone gets along and has fun.”

“I know. Thank you, mister.” She stepped back and worried the hem of her sleeves. “I think I want to go to the playground now,” she said before dashing to the garden, her hair bouncing on her back.

“Trís!” Fíli called after her, “you forgot your things!” He tried to catch her attention by waving her belongings but she didn’t turn back.

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll take care of bringing her backpack to the class. Man, you brought a lot!” Kíli mused. He reached toward the bag’s handles in Fíli’s hands and weighted it while whistling like a loon. “You didn’t bring anything yesterday. Now Trís has her own special bag.”

“It’s a change of clothes in case another accident happens. And this is her favorite book, this here is her blanket and this her pillow. Trís’s mom gave them to her and I thought she would sleep better with them. But if it’s too much trouble I can bring them with me to work.”

“Are you kidding me? This is a fantastic idea! Man, I wish more parents were as prepared as you!” If Fíli thought for one second that Kíli was making fun of him and his inaptitude as a parent, Kíli’s bright and frank smile erased all his suspicion. “And what is this pretty thing?” he asked as he grabbed Trís’s forgotten toy.

“Oh, that’s a Trís-ceratops.”

“Beg your pardon?”

Fíli smiled ruefully. “It’s… a game… a silly game we have. She’s the gentle vegetarian Trís-ceratops and I’m her friend, the Fíli-venator. Together we roam the plains of Jurassic middle-earth and get up to a lot of shenanigans. Sadly, I’ve never found any toy featuring my dinosaur-self. I’m afraid Philovenators are not as common or as popular as Triceratops. I only know of this particular type of dinosaur because I was looking for a friend for my Trís-ceratops girl.”

“Oh wow, man that’s wild! Do you mean that you and Trís play make-believe with dinosaurs when you’re home? I would pay all of Dúrin’s gold to see that! Here, let me take that from you.”

Fíli jerked back, Kíli’s proximity had surprised him. He realized that the man had slowly but surely advanced from the very far side of the hall to being nose to nose with him. Did he do it on purpose or was the man simply unaware of people’s personal bubbles? “That’s all right. Your classroom is the one upstairs, right? I’ll put her bag there.”

Kíli didn’t even blink at Fíli’s sudden movement. Instead he bounced ahead of Fíli and filled the silence with a continuous babble about the program of the day. Something about finger painting and stickers. Fíli tuned him out and looked around him.

He didn’t understand how Fauntling’s Realm wasn’t a private institute. He had never seen such a unique and beautiful building outside of a magazine. The floor and walls were all in dark oak-looking wood. The beams supporting the ceiling stood solid, long and sturdy and they went from one side of the room to the other in an impressive display of craftsmanship. The stairs he was currently climbing were stone. Each step was large enough to accommodate four people but they were made of one single massive stone, covered by a furry carpet ideal for tiny feet running on it. But despite the old fashioned design of the building and its materials, it didn’t have the decrepit and dark look Fíli associated with most old buildings.

Not only was it clean to the point of brightness and smelling pleasantly of beeswax, it was also extremely well maintained. Yesterday he was too nervous to appreciate such an excellent display of renovations but today he could appreciate the pleasant snail-like line of the stairs, the way each step fit snugly into its neighbor despite their peculiar curved shape, the way each wood panel in the windows were naturally curved, probably with heat, his memory supplied, and were placed in the perfect way to provide the maximum amount of light for each time of the day. When compared to the cheap apartment he occupied downtown with Trís, Fauntling’s Realm could pass as a luxurious castle, Fíli imagined with rueful amusement.

Trís’s classroom was the third one after the stairs. Kíli took the time to show him which coat and hat hanger was the one belonging to his daughter. “Tomorrow we will make a proper nameplate for each hanger for each child. This year, we should use wooden letters to make the names. We have a lot of incomplete letter puzzles, it’s a nice opportunity to be economic. Faramir and Celebrían, two other teachers, were very jealous of my idea”, he gushed, “But I managed to secure all the old puzzles before they could grab any,” Kíli laughed with deep satisfaction and beat his chest with his fists in a bad imitation of a gorilla.

“Of course, there won’t be enough letters. I’ll have to make some in cardboard.” There were traces of discoloration on top of each little crochet, evidence of past nameplates being lovingly put up by dozens of little hands along the years.

“Looks nice,” Fíli admitted, already imagining his daughter in the middle of a letter pile, “I’m sure you’ll have lots of fu…”

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Kíli interrupted him “Have you got a minute? Or are you in a hurry to go to work?”

Fíli checked his wristwatch, “I have a few minutes.” He wasn’t going to admit that he was so nervous when he woke up that he miscalculated the time he needed to get to work and was therefore pretty early.

“Come in, then. I’d like to ask you something.” At Fíli’s nod, Kíli opened the large round door to the classroom. It was as Fíli remembered, but with more light, on this sunny day. The classroom wasn’t very tidy, with some corners filled with toys and multiple puzzle pieces or educational building games. He wasn’t sure how the children could find the game they wanted in this messy jumble. The front of the class was filled with many small circular windows, shedding morning light on the chairs and easels. Some discolored yellow stains and colorful painting stains adorned the floor, probably non-recoverable ones.

“Please, take a seat. I know it’s short notice, but we still have a few vacant places… let me find it…” Kíli was searching through his files with great gusto, opening and closing drawers, letting a few papers fall on the floor. Finally he straightened and brandished a batch of papers. “Here!” He exclaimed.

Fíli took it in his hands. “What am I holding?”

Kíli retrieved one slip of paper “This an authorization form for a trip to the zoo. Trís requires this to go with us. There’s a fee of two silver pennies, if that’s alright? There’s Fauntling’s common fund if you need financial help. And this,” he nicked another paper, “is an application form if you would agree to be an accompanying parent. I’d love it if you could come! See, it’s scheduled next wednesday.”

“Wait, wait. I might have work next wednesday! I’ll sign Trís’s form but as long as I don’t have a fixed schedule I can’t sign the second one,” Fíli interjected.

“Oh come on, man. Just ask your boss! It can’t hurt…” Kíli begged him with the most preposterous pleading face Fíli had ever witnessed. It was made even more ridiculous by the fact that Kíli was a natural born puppy-eyed cute guy, but the face he made only geared resemblance with a somewhat dumbstruck and weird shar-peï, completely ruining the effect. Fíli felt his lips lift in an irrepressible smile before he burst in laughter, to Kíli’s surprise and discomfiture.

Still repressing some giggles, he managed to answer “Okay, Teach. You win this, I can’t resist such a face! I’d honestly love to accompany your class to the zoo, I’ll see what I can do. No promises, though.”

“That’s all I ask. But man, you would love it if you came! Blackmail your grumpy boss if you have to, or I’ll hide the body. But it will be Trís’s first trip, being with you would reassure her. Mahal, Bilbo will be such a happy bunny if I can gather enough people for a safe trip for once. He’s always complaining that I’m organizing everything at the last minute and I can never gather more than the bare minimum of accompanying parents. But we both know this for the bag of lies it is,” he winked at Fíli.

“Right… I’ll see what I can do to get Mr Baggins off your back, but now I really have to go.” He could hear voices in the hall downstairs and it inspired him to look at his watch. How had time flown by so quickly? Now he had to really rush on his bicycle. He wished Kíli a good day and ran down the stairs. If he wanted a free wednesday next week, he had better arrive on time.


End file.
